Mayor calls on KL residents to help shape federal capital’s future

KUALA LUMPUR,. Kuala Lumpur mayor, Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan wants the full participation of city folks with ideas or efforts to plan and develop the future of the federal capital.

He said this included the 2040 Kuala Lumpur Development Plan which would be gazetted next year.

“The development of federal capital is not the sole responsibility of Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) but it also involved the people as they are also the stakeholders who can contribute ideas and energy in line with the tagline, ‘Our Kuala Lumpur’.

“As such, before a plan is finalised and gazetted, the decision should receive the concurrence of residents themselves as they are eventually receiving the benefit in the long-term,” he told reporters in an interview on his 100th day as mayor recently.

Nor Hisham who was appointed as mayor on October 1 last year, said any dialogue on development should involve the participation of the local residents so that problems could be resolved before a decision is finalised.

“We do not want the people to say they are dissatisfied or want changes to any plan after a decision had been made at that time it would be too late,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nor Hisham said the 2040 Kuala Lumpur Plan would focus on preserving green lungs and minimise the building of skyscrapers in the city.

“If we look at situation now, about 50 per cent of the federal capital is already saturated and some areas are almost fully saturated for example the Bukit Bintang area.

“If possible, we do not want to concentrate on high-rise buildings, what is more important are green lungs such as Bukit Nanas and areas around Gombak should be preserved,” he said.

Apart from that, traditional villages should be protected from excessive development as the city is fast losing such heritage identity,

“Presently there are only seven or eight traditional villages remaining among them are Kampung Chubadak and Kampung Sungai Penchala.

“We treasure traditional villages and will retain the harmony of such areas by controlling development around them. However construction of infrastructure and basic amenities will be given priority,” he said.

Nor Hisham said DBKL would also focus on maintenance of public facilities such as road, streetlights and so on to ensure the city folks received the best facilities and services.

With the understanding that Kuala Lumpur is densely populated and crowded with tall buildings, he is determined to focus on efforts on resolved all complaints received from residents as soon as possible.

“If we have complaints of potholes or cleanliness such as rat infestation or foreign workers trading illegally around the city, we will try to attend to them as quick as possible for the safety and comfort of residents,” he said,

Nor Hisham who was the former Subang Jaya Municipal Council president was appointed as Kuala Lumpur mayor to replace Datuk Mhd Amin Nordin Abd Aziz who resigned on Sept 30, last year. — Bernama